Uncontacted Tribes

I still remember my first time listening to “alternative” music. I was super into wrestling as a kid and for some reason when the Undertaker came out to Limp Bizkit’s Rollin for the first time, it hit me big. It was the first time he changed his gimmick so dramatically but also the use of rock music for his theme. That weekend I went out and bought it on cassette with what little money I had. Who knew this would be the start of what would eventually shape my outlook on the world. I grew up as somewhere between a goth/skater/punk, and to be honest I would still describe myself a punk at heart despite the corporate facade.

The reason why I have been thinking about this recently is if you were alternative in the early 2000’s you would get bullied and worst case scenario beaten up. It came with the territory, but this is what made it “alternative”, you accepted the consequences and did it anyway. Today, I don’t believe I see a real alternative, it may be my age (and it probably is). I have felt like things have become homogenised. Social media I think is a real factor in this, everything is “content” to the point that I feel like people are doing things purely to put online. Everything people experience demands an audience. People will only do things that will get them views and followers therefore are safe as a side effect. We’re living through a very peculiar time. Which makes me think alternative/subcultures are have been absorbed mostly into the mainstream.

A truly alternative movement today might be invisible by design. If a group of young people rejected social media, constant connectivity, and the pressure to cultivate an online identity, there would be little evidence of their existence. It is sort of beautiful and hopeful to think about. It is also weird to think that this concept would be novel which in itself is quite sad. I imagine a kid asking another “why don’t you have a phone?”, and they reply “I don’t want one”, this would be a pretty strong stand to have as a kid I feel.

There is a great video about the pro skater Wes Kramer. He is mostly off the grid, no socials, uses a flip phone. In the video they ask how he gets around without something like Google maps and he jests about getting lost a lot but says “two lefts make a right” implying he finds his way. One part that stood out to me is when he speaks about taking a photo in a spot and then having several other people pulling their phones out to take that same photo and describing it as “diarrhea”. His take on liking magazines over viewing things on social media taking aim at the infinite scrolling, and talking about there being no end compared to a magazine which does and you can close and be done.

This is most likely the projection of a mid thirties parent lamenting for the past and hoping things will be better for my son when he’s older. I have hope that kids somewhere are choosing a different path, not because it’s trendy but because they genuinely want something else.